


Paranoia and Paranormal

by Achia626



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Alien Crewmate(s) (Among Us), Gen, Ghosts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27115090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Achia626/pseuds/Achia626
Summary: They didn't want to kill anyone. But what choice do you have when you don't want to die?
Relationships: Red/Yellow (Among Us)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

I didn't mean to kill her. Scare her. She just saw me through the vents and slipped on her own two feet. The malfunctioning wires got to her before I could help. 

Maybe I should have done something to save her? Though, how I'd do it without alerting the strange people on this ship of my presence was a mystery that still eluded me. Still, nothing to it now. The girl was long gone. If I didn't want to get caught, I had to take the opportunity to assume her identity. There was nothing else I could do but take what I needed for the sake of my own survival. 

I transform into her form and take her vibrant red suit, shoving the naked body in a corner. Just as I'm zipping the last of the suit's outer wear, someone else comes in. 

I whip my head around so fast, I slip and fall at their feet. They look down at me and laugh, holding out a hand. 

"You alright there Fiona? You're always so clumsy." The man in a yellow suit asks, concern wrapped in his tone. Underneath his helmet, his face is small and child-like when he crouches down to help. 

I can see his name tag! Does that say Quill? No, Quinn? Finn! How do humans pronounce it? Um... Yea, I've got nothing. 

Fiona. That's the girl's name, right? I don't think he can see the body from where we are, but I take no chances. I groan and rub the side of my head so he keeps his focus on me. "That's twice now." 

Finn laughs again, pulling me up. It sounds like the flutes made from bamboo. High and sweet to the ears. "Do you wanna get checked for a concussion?" 

Yes! Anything to get out of... where am I? No matter, that's not important right now. I meekly nod, heading for the doors. 

Finn offers an arm for me to hold, and I take it as he guides us towards the front of the ship. 

I take the chance of being injured to catalogue what the ship looks like, in case I have to make a temporary escape through the vents or hide in a nook somewhere. The vents are the only place no one bothers to suspect because crew members are unable to breathe in them. The vents routinely filter oxygen from space, but also seals off the filtered air at half hour intervals, which no human could survive in for more than five minutes. 

Finn nudges me, and shows me his wristband. There are symbols, words, and pictures on it I don't understand. Luckily, I don't have to say anything as Finn says, "Captain wants us in the cafeteria. C'mon then. We'll get your head sorted later." 

I say nothing, and allow him to pull me in the direction of the aforementioned cafeteria. As we arrive, I am dreading what the meeting will be about. Have they found the body just as we left? If so, what then? Will there be a lockdown? An internal search? What will these humans do? 

The other crew members have already arrived in the cafeteria, apart from the green suit one who enters through from the opposite hall. I swallow down all of my fear and drop my arm from Finn to take a seat, my hands folded in front of me. There are a thousand eyes staring nervously at each other, and the tension in the air is palpable, I'm fidgeting. 

The captain, the one in the white suit, is at the center, and he points up at the hologram screen in front of him. He opens his mouth, his voice croaky, and says, "Crew, we've got a problem." his eyes dart left and right warily, "I've been reliably informed there's an imposter in our midst."


	2. Green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gerald (White) called the meeting, informing his crew of an imposter. No one is sure who they can trust right now. 
> 
> Fiona (Red) must somehow survive the immediate bloodshed this crew is willing to draw out as the first of many accusations are made against the crew members. 
> 
> Carmen (Blue) regrets nothing done. She did what she needed to do to keep her crew safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters:  
> Gerald (White) - Captain  
> Carmen (Blue) - Vice Captain  
> Danny (Pink) - Civil Engineer  
> Mina (Brown) - Pilot  
> Zhu Li (Purple) - Technician  
> Harold (Orange) - Security  
> Finn (Yellow) - Medic/Assist  
> Fiona (Red) - Technician  
> Hannah (Green) - Navigator  
> Orion (Black) - Ship Monitor

I am practically holding my breath the minute the white suit, Gerald, informs us of trouble on the ship.

His hands are folded on the table, and he glances around the room with a blank look. "I don't want to alarm anyone here, but as I was checking vitals, one disappeared."

My hands are sweating in my gloves, and I lick my lips nervously as I begin to speak. "Can..." I clear my throat as I realise how hoarse it is, "Can you tell whose it is?" 

Gerald shakes his head, placing his hands resting by his chin. "Unfortunately, because our ship is an older version of the unionised global systems,  
we can only account for the number of people on the ship. We should have ten people here, and I see all ten of us, but machines don't lie. If one is gone, then one is gone. Which means one of us is an imposter. A fake." He directs his gaze at me, and I clench my jaw to keep from shivering away from his piercing green eyes. 

Can he see right through me? What can he do as captain? Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit. What do I do, what do I do? Play it cool. C'mon Fiona. Get ahold of yourself. I suck in a breath and go to speak again, but the blue suit, Carmen, beats me to it. 

"When's backup coming then?" Carmen asks, her frame leaning back in her chair, her feet lounging on the table. She looks more at ease than I feel about this. Does she know who it is? 

"Estimate? Five hours." Gerald says with a frustrated sigh. "I know what you're going to say but there's nothing we can do." 

Carmen scoffs, "So, what? We just, wait?"

Gerald nods gravely, "I'm afraid so." 

Carmen plants her feet down and stands. "Then let's account for where we were then. If you were scanning vitals, you must've been in Admin. I was right behind you in storage when you came out to make the call." She looks around the table, raising an eyebrow. "Everyone else?" She turns her attention at me and leans over the table to inspect me. "What about you little red? Where did you go?"

My lips are dry. My fingers don't know what to do with themselves. I'm going to die. They're going to find out and throw me out into open space. I can survive the vents but even I can't survive that. Don't panic. Don't panicdon'tpanic. Don't.

The blue suited woman sighs, "C'mon little red, we don't have all day." 

Finn cuts in, "Oi, leave her alone. Let her speak." 

I let out a breath, calm myself down. I look down at my hands. They can't read my vitals because I have none, but as long as they never check the suits, I'll be fine. I can do this.

Wait. What's that scribbled on the glove? Tasks? It's not legible, but it's enough to go off of. "I was fixing the wiring in... um...e-eeel...." I look dumbly at my hand, pretending I need to lean down to squint. 

"Electrical?" Pink suit, Danny, asks. 

"Yes!" I jump at the chance Danny offers. "Sorry, I'm not great at remembering what I'm supposed to do, so I wrote it on my hand." I point at my chicken scratched hand. 

"I can confirm that." Finn affirms with a nod. "She also might have a concussion." 

The room is silent. 

"She fell over her own feet." Finn explains, waiting for any other response. He thinly smiles, "thanks guys, glad to know how worried you are about your possibly injured crewmates." 

"Finn, you know that's not what we're thinking." Gerald says, glaring his piercing eyes back on me. 

I bite my lip again to keep from giving myself away. 

Finn laughs, "You think she's the imposter?" He nudges me with his elbow. "Really? Slips McGee?" 

Okay listen pal. You try walking with two feet instead of your usual six.

Gerald shrugs, "We can't rule it out." 

"Actually," Carmen drawls out with a shake of her head, "it's not her. I passed little red before I came into storage. The fact that Finn was also with her means the imposter couldn't have gotten to her in time. The imposter isn't stupid enough to kill where more than one person is around."

Alright, I may not be fluent in this language, but I think she's insulting me. 

"That leaves six of us left unaccounted for. Zhu Li, Mina, Harold, Danny, Hannah, Orion. Where were all of you?" 

Danny points at Mina, prown, and says, "We were in upper engine. You can confirm since we were one of the first to get here."

"Right... Why were both of you there?" Carmen asks, pauses for a second then vigorously shakes her head. "You know what, don't answer that. Zhu Li?" 

Zhu Li, purple, shifts in his seat, and begins to babble. "I was at shields for a bit, then I went around to Admin to swipe because my hour was up, then I went through the cafeteria cause I was hungry, and I remembered we had snacks somewhere so I took like two packs with me. Then, I went back around to the reactor, saw Danny and Mina on my way through doing--"

"Okay, that's enough. You're clear. Harold?"

"In security. It's still logged in as me." Harold has his arms crossed, raising an eyebrow at Carmen, waiting for her to challenge him. He looks as if he detests Carmen's presence.

Carmen nods curtly then addresses the last two crew members. "What about you two? Orion? Hannah?" 

We all look to Orion, but it looks like the man had dozed off during all of this. Mina waved a hand in his face, but Orion didn't answer. Gerald sighed and kicked him under the table. 

Orion shot up and said "Dog's getting away! Wha-" He straightened up in his chair and said, "Sorry, what was the question?"

"Where were you before we called the meeting?" 

"Oh. Monitoring comms." Orion says easily. He leans his head onto his arm. "Strangely enough, i heard Hannah's go off the fritz."

We all turn to Hannah, zeroing in on her suit. Sure enough, her comms are blinking. Hannah perks up as soon as she realizes what's being said. "Huh? Whoa. No way. I was in navigation trying to move the asteroids out of our way." She puts up her hands in a placating manner. 

All is silent again, and Gerald and Carmen give each other a look. "That's up in weapons Hannah." 

"Yea, that's what I meant. Weapons." Hannah chuckles, swallowing audibly as she looks around the room. "Why are you all standing? Carmen? What are you--" 

Carmen and Gerald grab her by the arms and someone else, Mina, takes her helmet off. 

"Get off me! Hey!" Hannah shouts, kicking and yanking to get out of their grasps. "Wait, I can explain!"

"Uhh, what are you guys doing?" Orion asks, debating on whether he should help or not. 

"We can't afford to wait for backup." Carmen says curtly. "Help me get her into the air lock."

The minute she says that, I am horrified. "What?!" Did she really just say that? "That's our teammate!" What are they doing??

Carmen snaps at me as she is struggling to keep Hannah still. "For all we know this isn't Hannah. She didn't even correctly state where she was." 

"I was in Nav- Weapons! Carmen, you gotta believe me!" Hannah says through her struggle. 

I protest, confused by Carmen's logic. "But that doesn't mean--"

Finn places a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. I turn to him, wondering why he interrupted. He gravely shakes his head. Hannah's fate has already been decided the moment she made a speech error.

I turn back to Hannah. Her eyes are wide and dilated. She looks scared. Like Red. Only this time it's not because of me. 

"We're not taking any chances." Carmen says sharply. 

I take a step towards Gearld, and tug on his sleeve to listen to me. "Shouldn't we wait for backup? We can't just do this! This doesn't feel right." 

Gerald shoves me off, calling for the others. "Danny! Orion! Bit of help?" he grunts, pushing on Hannah's weight. 

Those called hurry to help him, blindly obeying out of fear. Why aren't they fighting back? Do they not care for her? Is she not one of their own? 

I have to do something. I have to stop them. I try to take Hannah by the hand but Finn's pulling me back by the waist. 

"Let go of me! They're gonna kill her!" I shout, trying to pull away to help the poor girl. 

Hannah looks back towards me, her furious amber eyes are pleading for me to help. My heart twists from that one look. So what if I'm a fake? An imposter, an intruder trying to survive. I'm not a cold-blooded killer. I can't let them kill that poor girl. 

I chin Finn with my elbow and rush to Hannah's aide. "Don't you dare open that door!" My voice is loud but shriller than it normally is. She can't die because of my arrival. I can't let that happen. 

As I outstretch my hand, Carmen comes up to block me as the others strip Hannah of her suit's oxygen tank. 

I stand my ground, growling, "Move out of the way, Carmen." I swerve around her but her hand is on my chest. 

She forcefully pushes me back and holds both sides of my face so that I am only looking at her stone grey eyes. "Look at me little red. If we don't get her off this ship, who knows what might happen. We could all die by her hand before back up arrives. You've heard the stories, you know the standard protocols. This is non-negotiable." 

Stories? Protocol? You'd sacrifice your own for the sake of protocol?! 

My teeth are chattering, my heart is pounding, and my hands are unable to keep still. I don't experience rage often, but this feeling is more than that. It's guilt, confusion, and anguish all at once. One wrong move and it'll cost me my life. 

Fuck. *Fuck*. All I wanted to do was survive, is that too much to ask for? I clench my fists, and stare past Carmen and watch the airlock open. Hannah is still looking at me, waiting for me to do something. Anything at all. The doors close behind her. There are tears streaming down her cheeks in despair.

She starts banging the door. "Please! You guys! You don't understand! I was just doing my tasks, I don't deserve to die! Listen to me!" 

No one is watching Hannah as she pleads for her life. Gerald pushes the eject button and the girl is forcefully removed from the ship. 

This is sick. I'm gonna be sick. Her body is already drifting through space, frozen and pale around the ship's windows. Gerald's tablet vibrates on his belt, and he pulls it out. The tablet monitoring everyone blinks rapidly, until one of the suit's vital signs disappear. 

Gerald looks up at us, confused, and for the first time, terror creeps onto his face. "What have we done?" he whispers.


	3. Purple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiona is safe. Zhu Li is not. Finn is clueless. Gerald and Carmen can't be trusted. Everyone else just wants this to be over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alive:   
> Fiona - Red (Imposter)  
> Gerald- White   
> Blue - Carmen  
> Black - Orion  
> Yellow - Finn  
> Brown - Mia  
> Pink - Danny  
> Orange - Harold  
> Purple - Zhu Li
> 
> Deceased:  
> Hannah - Green  
> Fiona - Red (Original)

I stare outside, watching Hannah's body float away like dust. Her green suit nothing more than a speck in the void of space surrounding our ship. There is noise in the background but I don't bother to listen. Carmen and Harold are arguing behind me. Gerald is silent, staring at the tablet monitor, probably trying to come to terms with Hannah's death. The rest of the crew are back at the table, unsure of what to do now. 

Is this the price I pay for wanting to live? Why? I thought they were supposed to be the kind to protect their own. How could they dismiss a member of their team so easily? My hand presses down on the glass window. I could kill everyone right here right now with just a fraction of my strength. I won't because there's no need yet, but now I'm terrified of what will happen if I don't.

If I get caught after back up arrives, they won't kill me right away. At best, they'll contain me. At worst, they'll try to pry me open and see what I'm made of then slaughter me like a pig. We have four hours and forty-seven minutes until they arrive. Before that, it's a race against the clock. They were so ready to remove Hannah for a simple mistake, they'll probably make it worse once they find out I'm the one they need to find.

Human bloodlust is astonishingly higher than most species that I know of, and they're willing to do what it takes to make sure their whole group survives, no matter the cost. Then, if that's the case, I have to play along with their game. 

I slide my hand off the glass, lifting my helmet to wipe the tears off my face. I snap it back shut and turn to face the crew members head on.

Survival is a must, and I have to be the winner. There's no other choice. 

The first thing I'm going to do? 

Vomit. 

Without speaking a word to anyone, I head out to somewhere quiet to collect my thoughts. I take a sharp turn into Medbay, after hearing my stomach churn in an unsavory manner. With a swift lift of my helmet, I spew everything I could into one of the bins that held contaminated clothing and wiped my mouth with the sleeve of the suit. 

Someone else comes in, and I jump nearly two feet backwards into the table of test tubes. I scramble to save them, but they roll off the table before I can grab them. 

Luckily, Finn has his hands underneath the tubes and puts them back on the table with ease. "Hey, easy there. You alright?" He looks concerned. 

I stare at him, lean over and inspect him without touching. He doesn't lean away, cocking an eyebrow at me. Why doesn't he look more distraught? "Am I alright?" I echo back quietly, giggling at the absurdity of the question. "We've just killed one of our own because she made a mistake." I snarl, grabbing him by his collar. "Am I alright?! What kind of question is that?" 

Finn grips my arms and pushes them off and takes a step forward. "You know we had to." he says calmly. "I know you're still new to this, but we can't take any chances. Not after what happened the first time." He says darkly, shoving past me to the samples by the scanner and pulls them out to sort through. 

I freeze, perplexed. My people are not the bloodthirsty type. We do not kill needlessly unless it is absolutely necessary. So what is he talking about? "The first time?" I ask softly, following behind him. "Were you there?" 

Finn doesn't say anything, holding one of the samples to the light, then putting them back down and labelling them. 

I had heard the stories. The one Carmen was talking about. Maybe not from their perspective, but the narratives were one and the same. One of our kind came on board their ship, maybe it was an accident. Maybe it wasn't. 

"I wasn't in charge of Medbay back then. I was just a lowly technician tasked with maintaining the ship's electrical wiring intact." Finn says, snapping me out of my thoughts. 

I wait for him to continue. 

He looks up at me, his mouth drawn in a thin line. "We had eight people in our crew. Then, all of a sudden, something happened to our captain. He was acting... strange, and distant." Finn shrugged, walking over to the decontamination sink. "We chalked it up to nerves, and thought nothing of it. Then our ship started malfunctioning, and then we had seven of us left as we were fixing our ship. Nobody could figure out what was happening, so we tried to stick together in pairs so that we were all accounted for. Our ship continued malfunctioning, and then seven became five, then four, then three..." Finn takes a deep breath, and sits down on a stool in the corner. "Eventually, it came down to just me and our captain. By then, I knew it was either me or him, so I did what I had to and pushed him out." He shoots a look at me and says, "If we had acted sooner, we wouldn't have lost the people we did. The protocols were put in after for future crews." His eyes are glassy eyed and he looks down. "Some made it, and some didn't." 

There is a pang in my chest as I realise how scared he must have been, not knowing what was happening. They all must've been when one of our own first came aboard. 

Our people are dying out. Fast. We've been dying out for awhile now. Before I came aboard, we had about ten of our species left, but when I snuck onto this ship by accident, we only had two. I'm not sure where the other one went, but they are either dead, or will be dead in a matter of time. 

I don't know how to tell Finn all of this without revealing myself. "But what about the ones you got wrong... Did their lives mean nothing?" I ask, my voice croaking as a result of the tears streaming down my face. 

Finn jumps up. "Of course not!" he shouts, his face looks even more distraught now than it was before. "But there's nothing we can do now that it's done. We just... have to do better. Pay closer attention. Learn from our mistakes. That's all we can do at this point." 

I don't say anything to that, but I nod. Whatever I respond with wouldn't help in the slightest because he's right. How much pain did our presence cause them? My species has been their crutch. They have lost many because we few wanted to survive. One of us is enough to reduce all of them to dust. At least with their system, they can feel as if they're doing something proper for themselves. 

Pivoting on my foot, I turn away from him. "I have to go take out the trash in storage." I say, waving as I go. 

I take a turn up to a corner in the upper engine, and do a quick scan before I hop into the vents, huddling around the cramped halls until I'm well away from any nearby exits. I slip out of the suit and separate a part of myself so I can contemplate what to do. 

"What do we do?" I ask myself, sitting cross-legged opposite each other. 

"I don't know." 

"You heard what they said, if they even think someone is acting suspicious, they'll throw them out no questions asked. We can't just wait for their backup to arrive. Who knows what'll happen in..." They check the suit's watch, "four hours and twenty one minutes." 

"Look, as long as they don't find Fiona's body, this will be a piece of cake. We just have to wait until then." 

"Wait... What body??" 

"Fiona's body? The one who died and we took her suit? That body?"

"Oh no." 

I merge back with myself, and force my limbs into the suit, taking on Fiona's form once more. My legs kick off and I crawl my way through the vents to find the specific one I'm looking for. I find myself back in what Danny referred to as electrical, and sure enough, Fiona's body was still there. Cold, and unassuming. I sigh in relief and go to climb out of the vent. As I'm climbing, I hear a cry, and look up to see Zhu Li, standing stock still over Fiona. 

Fuck. 

Zhu Li turns his head to me, my body still half in the vent and half crawling towards the real Fiona. 

He doesn't speak. Or move. I'm almost afraid he's croaked on his own. 

The man sprints away, and I follow. The screen on my suit lights up, and I smash all the buttons I can, making the doors shut in Zhu Li's face.

There's nowhere for him to go. He's trapped. Zhu Li looks terrified, just as Hannah, and Fiona were as he looks for a way out.

I feel it's my duty to reassure him, so I speak as gently as I can. "Hey." I say, as if I was addressing a child. 

Zhu Li instinctively turns his head towards me, where I'm cautiously leaning over the control panels. He's shaking like a leaf. "Wha- Oi! D-Don't come any closer." He shouts, backing up against the doors behind him. 

I put my hands flat out in front of me as I make my approach. "Hey, it's okay. No one's going to hurt anyone." I softly say. 

"Y-You killed her!" He states, his eyes darting between me and the body. 

"It was an accident!" I snap, trying to defend myself. 

The man in purple shrinks back, trying to melt into the wall. "Y- I- Please don't kill me." 

"Not if you're going to tell the crew what happened." I say slowly.

Zhu Li's heart beats faster than I've ever heard it. He doesn't say anything, but when the doors open again, he makes a sprint for the exit. 

A rash and impulsive decision. My body responds before my mind even makes the decision to pounce on Zhu Li. The poor man only gets as far as the threshold to the storage area before I seize onto his back with my arm around his neck and twist. 

The body snaps and he goes down like an anvil to the floor. With no one around, I scan the area for a good place to hide the body. 

I spot the chutes in one corner and drag the corpse to it as fast as I can and shove the man into it, folding the body inwards on itself. Before I release it, I go back to electrical and carry Fiona's body all the way to the chutes, stuffing her in as if she were nothing but cotton. 

Just as I shut the chutes and yank on the release, a whiff of someone else's scent catches my attention and I turn my head. 

Gerald has just entered storage with a solemn look on his face. His eyes are locked onto mine in a battle of wills. 

I don't dare back down, and grin meekly back.


End file.
